Utz Brands, Inc. $UTZ Shares Acquired by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Utz Brands, Inc. by 26.5%, owning 775,001 shares worth approximately $10.91 million after acquiring an additional 162,560 shares.
• Utz Brands announced a quarterly dividend of $0.061 per share, representing a 1.8% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 114.29%.
• Analysts have rated Utz Brands with an average target price of $17.29, reflecting a Moderate Buy rating based on recent evaluations.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ - Free Report) by 26.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 775,001 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 162,560 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned 0.55% of Utz Brands worth $10,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in Utz Brands by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 15,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Utz Brands by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,280 shares of the company's stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Utz Brands by 11.5% during the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,632 shares of the company's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Outfitter Financial LLC raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 3.8% in the first quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 54,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Utz Brands by 7.1% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 30,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 2,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on UTZ shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Utz Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Utz Brands from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Utz Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christina Choi sold 5,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.63, for a total value of $77,731.89. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $459,467.30. This represents a 14.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 16.32% of the company's stock.

Utz Brands Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:UTZ traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.85. 577,245 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 712,216. Utz Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.53 and a fifty-two week high of $18.89. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.34.

Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). Utz Brands had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 1.27%.The firm had revenue of $366.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $360.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Utz Brands has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.850 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Utz Brands, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Utz Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.061 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Utz Brands's payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Utz Brands Profile

Utz Brands, Inc engages in manufacture, marketing, and distribution of snack foods. It offers a range of salty snacks, including salty snacks, including potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pork skins, veggie snacks, pub/party mixes, tortilla chips, salsa and dips, ready-to-eat popcorn, and other snacks under the Utz, Zapp's, ON THE BORDER, Golden Flake, Boulder Canyon, Hawaiian, TORTIYAHS!, etc.